


Oranges and Lemons

by zorac



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Comics)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 18:56:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12326886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zorac/pseuds/zorac
Summary: Everyone keeps telling Buffy she’s straight. They can’t all be wrong… can they?A slightly different take on the end of season eight #22.





	Oranges and Lemons

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was re-reading season eight, because I finally got around to picking up the later seasons, and I was reminded of certain… annoyances. In particular, the whole Buffy/Satsu thing almost feels like it’s there purely to set up the gag where pretty much every other character finds them in bed together. After that, it seems to be quickly swept under the rug and Buffy goes straight back to being 100% heterosexual – and various people seem to feel the need to remind her of this. Grrr argh. So I decided to take a break from the other fics I was working on and write this instead.

“Good work, Satsu,” said Buffy. She hesitated for a moment then added, almost softly, “we all miss you here.” The video snapped off.

“What the hell was that?” asked Satsu. “Is she _trying_ to make this harder for me?”

Kennedy sighed. “At least it wasn’t ‘ _I_ miss you’…”

“No, that would have been better. That would have been an admission that there’s definitely something there. That would have put me on the plane back to Scotland with you. But ‘we all miss you’? That’s like saying ‘I miss you, but I’m afraid to say it because I’m not sure what I mean’. Not enough to give me actual hope, but too much to give me any chance of getting past it.” She trailed off, out of steam.

Kennedy shot her a sympathetic look. “Maybe she just misses you as a friend, as a… comrade in arms, and she was tying not to be too insensitive.”

“Yeah? Well it didn’t work,” said Satsu angrily; then, “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to help. Please, tell me what you really think – am I just being serious with the wishful thinking?”

Kennedy stared at the blank screen for a few seconds. “I… I’m not sure. I mean, probably, yeah, but I’ll talk to Buffy when I get back to HQ.” She hesitated before adding, “and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if I were in your shoes… I wouldn’t throw out that cinnamon lip gloss just yet.”

* * *

“Come on in,” called Buffy in response to the knock at her door. She looked up to see Kennedy slip through, shutting it behind her. “Hey, good work in Japan, but shouldn’t Will be your first port of call?”

“I just needed a quick word with you before I drag Willow off to bed. My plans for her most certainly aren’t quick,” she added with an exaggerated leer.

“Too much information.”

“I have to ask you, in the words of Satsu, ‘what the hell was that?’”

“What do you mean?”

“That ‘we all miss you here’ line at the end of your call. You know Satsu’s trying to get over you; telling her that you miss her doesn’t exactly help with that.”

“I didn’t say _I_ miss her…”

“Yes, but that’s what you meant, isn’t it?” Kennedy took Buffy’s silence as assent; she sighed. “Look, if you’d actually said it, then you’d be having this conversation with Satsu, not me. As it is, you’ve left her in limbo, and that’s just not fair. You need to be clear with her about what you do and don’t want.”

“What if I don’t know what I want?”

“Oh, come on, Buffy. You’ve had your little lesbian fling. Maybe you would have liked for it to go on a bit longer – hell, I can’t blame you; Satsu _is_ smokin’ – but we both know how this story goes. You’re straight, so sooner or later it was going to end, and the longer it goes on, the worse Satsu’s going to be hurt.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Saying what?”

“That I’m straight, like it’s some unchangeable fact.”

“Because, well, you are.”

“And less than five years ago, so was your girlfriend!”

“That’s not the point. Are you seriously telling me that a parade of hot women has replaced Daniel Craig in your fantasy life?”

“No…”

“Well, then.”

“…just one. And I wouldn’t say ‘replaced’, exactly.”

“So you’re sitting on the fence. You need to figure out which side you’re on.”

“Easy for you to say, you’ve probably known you were gay since you were in diapers.”

“Not quite, but I spent a lot of time around my aunt and her girlfriends when I was growing up, so when I developed an interest in girls at the same time most of my friends got interested in boys, I just assumed I was like her. So, yeah, never looked _that_ way at a boy in my life.”

“Not all of us have it so easy. All I know at this point is that while I’m certainly not full-on gay, I’m not sure I’m entirely straight either. You familiar with the Kinsey scale?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I wasn’t. My only point of reference for someone figuring out they’re not straight was Willow going from zero to six pretty much overnight; so, when that didn’t happen after me and Satsu… you know. When I wasn’t suddenly gay afterwards, I assumed it must just be a one-time… two-time thing. Anyway, after I got back here, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Since everyone, Willow included, was doing the whole ‘Buffy, you’re straight’ thing, I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about it, so I asked the Internet for help.”

“Well, there’s a sentence that never ends well.”

“Oh, hush. Seriously, though, what if I am a Kinsey one or two, and it’s just that Satsu is the first girl I’ve liked enough for me to realize it?” There was a pleading tone in her voice.

It took Kennedy a while to respond. “You really do like her, don’t you.”

“Yeah. We were already friends; I mean, not as close as I am with Will or Xander, maybe, but still. She’s a Slayer too, so she understands what that’s like – and she’s _good_ at it. She has the cojones to stand up to me; when I got crazy overprotective in Japan, she gave me a righteous smackdown. I _trust_ her, and that’s not something I can say about many people. Oh, and the sex was, like, incredible.”

“I get that my mostly-straightness is a potential problem, but relationships fail for all sorts of reasons. Do you really want me to pass up this chance just because there’s one more possible way for it to end? It’s not like my dating history with guys is a massive success story. Other than the whole lesbian thing, I’m pretty sure Satsu has more going for her than any of my exes. She’s not a vampire, for starters…”

Kennedy cut her off. “Actually, I really don’t think I’m the right person for you to be having this conversation with.”

“You think I should talk to Will?”

“Y’know, I think that submarine the Japan squad captured could really be an asset to the cause. You should probably go and check it out yourself. I’m sure there’s someone there who would love to give you a tour, maybe take you on some extended sea trials. I’ll have Willow book your ’plane ticket, she’s really good at hacking those last-minute deals.”

Buffy simply stared at her for a few seconds. “Um…”

“C’mon, get packing.” Kennedy turned to leave, adding from the doorway, “we’ll be just fine without you.”

* * *

“Go away!” called Satsu, sleepily. The loud knocking didn’t stop. Grumbling, she forced herself to get out of bed and stumble across to the door. She opened it, and blinked owlishly at the intruder. “Buffy? What are you doing here?”

“Kennedy made me come,” she replied, making her way into the room and closing the door.

“I thought you were the boss of her, not the other way around.”

“Rumors of my bossiness have been greatly exaggerated. Besides,” she took a deep breath, “I really missed you.”

“Oh, no, you can’t come in here saying things like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re _straight_!” Satsu replied, with just a touch of anger.

“Why does everyone keep telling me that?” Buffy retorted. “Do they think I’ll forget? Are they worried that I might not be? Why are you all so invested in my heteronormativity?”

“Heteronormativity?”

“Hey, I can, like, use big words and stuff. Not sure if I used it right…”

Satsu managed a small smile. “So, are you saying that you’re _not_ straight?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“You _think_ so?”

Buffy shrugged. “I’m not certain of anything right now, but I’m pretty sure I’m bi. Very much at the straight-leaning end, I’ll admit, but yeah, I’m bisexual.” Then, after a long moment, “it’s actually kinda scary saying that out loud for the first time.”

Satsu pulled her into a hug. “I’m honored it’s me you chose to come out to first.”

“Who else would I tell?”

“Uh, Willow? Your oldest, gayest friend?”

“But she’s not the reason I figured this out; you are.” Satsu’s response to that was a kiss, which she eagerly accepted. “We should probably talk about this,” Buffy said when they parted. “Like, y’know, adults. We don’t want to jump into anything…” Her eyes involuntarily flicked towards the bed.

Satsu smirked, and began walking backwards, pulling Buffy after her. “We could do that, but I have a better plan.” 

“Uh-huh?”

“Sex now, talk later.”

“Okay,” said Buffy, as they tumbled onto the bed. “I can work with that.”


End file.
